There has been significant interest in the manufacture of personalized packaging for small volume applications. Systems exist that allow an end user to create a package or similar three-dimensional structure by defining dimensions, and optionally also by providing some information about functionality. The system may create a small run of packages, or even a single package, after generating a cut file (which may also be referred to as a package design file) that includes rules and/or parameters that define the cuts and creases (fold lines) that the package generation equipment should impart to a substrate.
In real world applications a personalized package creation system will have a limited set of substrate sizes available for use in production. However, the desired package sizes may vary quite a bit. Not all desired structures may fit on the available substrates. Or, some structures may fit on an available substrate but only with a significant amount of wasted space.
This document describes methods and systems for improving automated package customization systems to address some or all of the issues described above.